This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/857,394 filed on Jul. 23, 2013 U.S. Provisional Patent Application 61/899,537 filed on Nov. 4, 2013, both of which are incorporated herein in their respective entirety by this reference thereto.
1. Field of the Invention
The present device relates to stringed instruments. More particularly it relates to a mount for a tremolo arm providing a centered positioning of the engagement point for the distal end of a Tremolo arm employed for pivoting the bridge in its engagement with the guitar body.
2. Prior Art
In music, tremolo is a trembling vibrato effect imparted to the played music heard by the listener. When playing a guitar, a Tremolo effect is produced by inducing a variation in the amplitude of the produced note from the strings.
A variety of mechanical tremolo or vibrato systems for guitars have been developed and employed by musicians since the 1930s and are employed to add vibrato to the sound of the music, by imparting a change to the tension of the strings. Typically the mechanical action to impart this change in tension is communicated as a pivoting of the bridge or tailpiece of an electric guitar in its engagement to the body. The implement of choice for most guitarists to impart this tensional variation to elicit the vibrato effect to their music, is a controlling lever, often referred to as a whammy bar, a vibrato armor bar, or a tremolo armor bar.
During guitar playing, by gripping the lever engaged with the bridge connected to the strings, the musician may communicate an oscillating motion to the bar, toward and away from the body of the guitar. Conventionally this motion pivots the bridge engaged to the strings opposite the guitar neck, and enables the player to quickly vary the tension and sometimes the length of the strings temporarily.
On an electric guitar this imparted movement of the bridge to vary string length and tension, also moves the strings into differing positions within the magnetic field proximate to the electronic string pickups. Both of these temporary and varying physical changes to the strings, cause a change the pitch of the music produced, by the stringed instrument or guitar to create a vibrato, or pitch-bend effect to the sound.
Since the regular appearance of conventional mechanical vibrato systems generally using gripped-arms to change string tension in the 1950s, such devices have been regularly employed by many guitarists. In the 1960s and 1970s, vibrato or tremolo arms connected to the mount for the guitar strings or bridge, were widely used for significantly more dramatic effects by rock and roll guitarists. Since then the pitch-bending effects produced by movement of the tremolo arm, whether subtle inflections or exaggerated effects, have become an important part of many styles of electric guitar, and a welcome addition to virtually every electric guitar.
Typical prior art is taught by U.S. Pat. No. 274,114 by Fender, an example thereof shown in the drawings herein as prior art in the drawings. In prior art of Fender and as taught in most other electric guitar art, a stout handle is engaged to a pivotally engaged bridge for the strings. The handle in the prior art may be rotated out of the way from strumming when not in use.
In use in conventional devices like that of Fender, the bar is rotated to a comfortable position for gripping in the hand of the user. Once gripped, the user oscillates movement of the bar by pushing it toward the guitar body, and immediately pulling it back again. This movement produces a tremolo effect in the music through the communicated force in the arm, pivoting the bridge in its engagement to the guitar which causes variable changes to both string length and string position over the electronic pickups.
However, systems typical of that taught in Fender have significant shortcomings. Most significantly, in the majority of Tremolo arm engagements to guitar string bridges, the engagement point for the Tremolo bar in most instances is at an engagement point on one edge of the bridge adjacent one of the row of strings. Because this engagement of the arm is significantly off center from the center of the pathway of the strings extending from their engagement to the bridge, movement of the bar the user of the arm, to induce a pivoting of the bridge and the resulting vibrato effect, is communicated to one edge of the bridge adjacent an outside string. This and most other modes of such engagement are significantly off-center from the central area of the bridge where the strings engage, and on one end of the pivoting axis of the bridge.
The significant force communicated to the elongated handle to pivot the bridge around its axis to change spring length and tension, is thus communicated to one edge of the bridge off center. This force so delivered off center causes an uneven pivot of the bridge, misaligned with the axis thereof, such that the strings closest to the attachment of the arm to the bridge are shortened more and de tensioned more than the strings engaged to the bridge which are located further away. This is caused by an angled or rocking pivot of the bridge out of alignment with its axis in a resting state.
As such, there exists an unmet need for an improved engagement of the tremolo bar to a stringed instrument bridge, such as a guitar, which provides for a more even distribution of the communicated force. Such a device should communicate the force to the bridge from the Tremolo arm, in a fashion which substantially maintains the bridge aligned with its axis in a resting state, when force is imparted to pivot it. Such a device thus would in communicating even force across the pivoting bridge, cause a substantially equal string tension and length change to all strings engaged with the bridge. Finally, such a device should be adapted to engage with and function as a Tremolo mount, to most bridge designs by provision of a cooperating edge of the mount, and means for engagement with the bridge.
The forgoing examples of related art and limitations related therewith are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive, and they do not imply any limitations on the bridge engagement component for a Tremolo bar, and the method described and claimed herein. Various additional limitations of the related art will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading and understanding of the specification below and the accompanying drawings.